Revitalization Around The Rock

Also key in all of this is the fact that Harrison will be housing the Red Bulls soccer stadium along with a massive residential/retail/office complex just on the other side of the river. ... Newark and Harrison will be poised to take full advantage with new residential options.

I 100 percent support all of the potential improvements to the Newark, N.J., area.

But I'm extremely dissappointed that Harrison officials sold itself out to yet another New Jersey team using a New York name. IMHO it just throws more dirt on NJ's already tattered image.

I must have just imagined people being in them, then. Arena, Hells Kitchen, the one next to Catholic Charities lot, have definately opened because of the Rock. The one across the street is opening before next season, and there's probably more if I wandered around enough.

Dont think you imagined people going in, but again, those places were already open.

Yeah the Arena Bar has been open a year or two before the Rock was even there. It was called something else I believe. There were a few bars around the area including the Chinese restaurant acroos the street from the Arena bar.

Yeah the Arena Bar has been open a year or two before the Rock was even there. It was called something else I believe. There were a few bars around the area including the Chinese restaurant acroos the street from the Arena bar.

Thanks for clearing that up. And if I'm thinking of the same Chinese place you are, it looks like it survived a massive bombing.

A lot of those restaurants opened in anticipation of the Arena opening. The Arena Bar, Hell's Kitchen etc. are examples of that. There were a couple of restaurants that tried opening up in anticipation and didn't make it because they weren't able to survive the construction period.

In any event, the Arena's presence has really opened up a lot of eyes to Downtown Newark, many of those eyes belonging to people who would never otherwise find themselves there. It is for this reason that I was so deadset on the arena coming to the city in the first place, because as useful and impressive as NJPAC is, it attracts a much smaller crowd, generally more elite in composition, who for the most part would not be willing to take the step of living in Newark's urban core. It also provided less overall publicity through major media (television and newspaper).

The Rock brought in a much more mainstream crowd into the city. NJPAC's contribution to the city's culinary selection was the Theater Square Grill and Maize: restaurants with $30 entrees. The Rock brought in the bars, pubs and added to the existing customer bases of nearby restaurants. However you want to look at it, it makes sense to bring in an attraction that attempts to bridge the gap between the city's majority population (mostly very poor) and the high end richer people that it is trying to attract. Regardless of their income and demographic differences, people drinking beer and eating a hot dog at a hockey game have a lot more in common with people drinking a 40 and eating fried chicken than people drinking white wine and eating pate de foie gras at a ballet do. Bridging that gap was a very important step for the city to start getting people to move into downtown.

In any event, the Arena's presence has really opened up a lot of eyes to Downtown Newark, many of those eyes belonging to people who would never otherwise find themselves there. It is for this reason that I was so deadset on the arena coming to the city in the first place.

Right on!

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A new steakhouse and a new sports bar are opening up in the area. The sports bar is right next to NJPAC (60 Park Place) and is expected to open July 1st. The steakhouse is going to be upscale and on Commerce Street (50 Commerce) and will have a rooftop tiki bar with an 'unobstructed' view of Prudential Center. It should open by the end of summer.LinkSounds pretty sweet!

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I! I believe! I believe that we! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win!

A new steakhouse and a new sports bar are opening up in the area. The sports bar is right next to NJPAC (60 Park Place) and is expected to open July 1st. The steakhouse is going to be upscale and on Commerce Street (50 Commerce) and will have a rooftop tiki bar with an 'unobstructed' view of Prudential Center. It should open by the end of summer.LinkSounds pretty sweet!

Okay, again here I go with the Newark geography questions.

Where is Commerce street? It would be neat if the unobstructed view of the arena is of the side with the massive screen, and it would be even more cool if they showed things on said screen besides advertisements.

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Proud recipient of the 2011-'12 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster, the 2007-'08, 2008-'09, and 2009-'10 Lady Byng Award for Nicest Poster,

the 2008-'09 Bobby Holik Award for Funniest Poster, and the 2009-'10 NJDevs.com Stanley Cup for Best Overall Poster.
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Where is Commerce street? It would be neat if the unobstructed view of the arena is of the side with the massive screen, and it would be even more cool if they showed things on said screen besides advertisements.

Commerce is parallel with the side of the arena with the giant windows overlooking the Newark skyline. It's two or three blocks from the arena. (You know how the arena is one block to your left once you exit the Gateway? Commerce is one block to your right.)

Commerce is parallel with the side of the arena with the giant windows overlooking the Newark skyline. It's two or three blocks from the arena. (You know how the arena is one block to your left once you exit the Gateway? Commerce is one block to your right.)

Nice, thanks. That's actually not a bad view of the arena either. As long as it's not the side that's just a faux brick wall, heh.

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Proud recipient of the 2011-'12 Sergei Brylin Award for Most Underrated Poster, the 2007-'08, 2008-'09, and 2009-'10 Lady Byng Award for Nicest Poster,

the 2008-'09 Bobby Holik Award for Funniest Poster, and the 2009-'10 NJDevs.com Stanley Cup for Best Overall Poster.
2009 NJDevs.com Survival League Football Champion

I am most likely going to The Eagles concert on Sun. at The Rock, so I'll take pictures of whatever is new or changed inside and out. I will try to get over to the restaurant sites on Commerce and Park as well.

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I! I believe! I believe that we! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win!

All that we have seen is this... ( 1:31 in ). It appears to have 5 glass towers in the plan and then restore that tan warehouse next to the park. I don't know what the latest status is. They haven't released any plans since last year. There hasn't been anything mentioned in the papers about it. The only thing that I've heard is in an interview with Jeff Vanderbeek from last month. I forget exactly what he said, but I taped it so I'll check up on it. When I go to The Eagles concert this weekend, I'll see if anything has been started.

Edited by The Rock 07, 21 May 2008 - 11:00 AM.

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I! I believe! I believe that we! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win!

I just watched the interview from the April 3rd shootout victory against Boston and what I got from it was that the entrance plaza and Triangle Park were (are) going to break ground in May. I know that the entrance plaza has been started but I haven't heard anything about the park. Mr. Vanderbeek also said that there are 6 redevelopment projects around the arena that are going to break ground in the next 9 months.

BTW: 3,000 views on this topic!

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I! I believe! I believe that we! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win!